Most presently known intraocular lens injectors comprise a cylindrical body in which a piston is slidably or screwably mounted: the body is designed to receive a cartridge having a cylindrical endpiece, a loading chamber for receiving the lens to be injected, and a hinged fin; the lens is placed in the chamber and the fin is folded down to close the chamber, thereby deforming the lens, after which the cartridge is placed in the body; once the surgeon has engaged the endpiece in the incision in the eye of a patient, the lens can be injected directly into the capsular bag of the eye being operated on by acting on the piston. Once released, the lens returns to its initial shape.
Other injectors are also known comprising a loading chamber provided with access openings that can be closed by a flap, by a slide, or by being mounted on the endpiece. The lens is deformed either by closing the flap or the slide, or by direct thrust from the piston.
In all those cases, the piston propels the lens into a space of section that tapers progressively, thus contributing to deforming the lens until it reaches the minimum internal section of the endpiece.
Document WO 96/13229 discloses a two-part device comprising forceps and a tubular element each of which needs to be held in one hand. The user takes hold of the lens with the forceps and inserts it into a loading chamber of the tubular element.